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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations

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You may only consider sport as a motivation for travel when there’s an important match, international competition or national tournament to attend. However, visiting the iconic stadiums, lovingly curated sports museums and highly anticipated athletic events that local fans love gives you the opportunity to experience and explore a new side to any city, no matter what the sport. See the world from a fan’s perspective by learning more about the athletic history, sporting legacy and local fandom of these top sporting destinations around the world.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Philadelphia, USA – If you didn’t know about Philadelphia’s famously rowdy and zealously enthusiastic sports fans, you couldn’t help but come to admire – or even adore – them after the city’s Eagles won the Super Bowl earlier this year. As social media erupted in a riot of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia GIFs and grainy footage of downtown Philly overrun with celebratory fans, onlookers around the world made plans to be there the next time any one of the city’s teams comes close to winning one of the “Big Four” US major sports leagues again.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Chicago, USA – Chicago makes this list for similar reasons: thanks to adorably ecstatic fans, in this case represented by Bill Murray, celebrating the World Series win of his favourite baseball team. The Chicago Cubs put over a century of losses and near-misses behind them to the boundless joy of their most prominent fan. Watching the beloved comedian suffer, cheer and celebrate at every game, then finish the season in the changing room as one of the team, made us all want to live and love a sport that much.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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New York City, USA – One could be led to believe that the New York Yankees were the most popular sports team in the entire world, judging by the amount of NY baseball caps in circulation globally. Of course, the majority of owners and wearers of said caps have never watched the team play, nevermind visited Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx. The Yankees and their merchandise are simply synonymous with the city they call home. Other legendary sports venues to visit include the Mets’ home ground in Flushing, Queens and basketball at Madison Square Garden.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Los Angeles, USA – L.A. isn’t all showbiz, although you could argue that – like most industries – L.A. sports are at least a little bit showbiz-influenced. The sprawling Greater Los Angeles area boasts a dozen more or less successful basketball, baseball and (American) football teams, and as many sports stadiums and arenas. The big tickets to snag are a baseball match at Dodger Stadium or a basketball game at Staples Center, where front row tickets could have you rubbing shoulders with Rihanna, Justin Timberlake or Beyoncé. These seats are, unsurprisingly, hard to get, as will be tickets for the Super Bowl, when it comes back to town in 2022.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Toronto, Canada – Canadians excel at winter sports and dominate ice hockey, so it comes as no surprise that Toronto’s Maple Leafs have a rabid following in the city. Having won 13 Stanley Cups, they are the most successful team in the English-speaking part of the country (the Montréal Canadiens have 24 wins to their name). Their following, however, is second to none, with a 99% renewal rate on season tickets – which means that if you snag a ticket to a game, you’ll be watching it almost exclusively with serious fans. Another uniquely Canadian sport played in Toronto is lacrosse, based on a First Nations game played by Indigenous people long before European settlers arrived.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Acapulco, Mexico – Cliff jumping is one of those sports that seem impossibly effortless and glamorous – until you actually see the real thing up close and wonder what kind of lunatics would voluntarily throw themselves off of cliffs as high as 30 metres above the water. Acapulco, widely recognised as the birthplace of competitive cliff diving, is home to the La Quebrada Cliff Divers, who put on a daily daredevil show for visitors. The fact that they know the territory like the back of their hand doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a difficult and risky dive requiring perfect timing and excellent fitness.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – One of the most football-crazy countries in the world, where players are revered like saints and every little boy dreams of growing up to be the next Pele or Neymar Jr., Brazil prides itself in being the only team to qualify for every World Cup ever. Of course, there’s also no better place to play beach volleyball – especially if you’ve got the guts to show off your body on Copacabana or Ipanema beach, where the sport’s first international tournament was held in 1987. [Photo: Phil Whitehouse/Flickr]

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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London, England – A city of sporting superlatives, the UK capital has hosted the Olympics three times, and it is home to British Premiership teams Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham and Fulham, as well as to legendary venues like Wembley, Twickenham, Wimbledon and Lord’s. Depending on your favourite sport, you can probably find a competition to capture your interest at some point during the year. If not, you can take a tour of most of the above mentioned sites and their adjacent museums packed with memorabilia, like the Marylebone Cricket Club Museum, the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum or the World Rugby Museum.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Manchester, England – In the Manchester-Liverpool football rivalry, Manchester was for years the overwhelming favourite and the scrappy underdog, but that imbalance has been adjusted recently. Sizeable investments brought back Manchester City from the third league to three Premier League victories in the past six years. The club’s former Maine Road stadium has been demolished, but fans can watch them play at City of Manchester Stadium or see rival Manchester United at Old Trafford. [Photo: barryluff/Flickr]

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Liverpool, England – Of course, Man United hasn’t just cultivated a rivalry with an inner-city competitor, but also with neighbouring Liverpool’s premier team. That Northern English city in turn has its own internal battle: the Merseyside Derby between Liverpool FC and FC Everton. When in town, give yourself a laugh by shopping at the latter’s fan shop in Liverpool One shopping centre. It’s the second of two Everton souvenir shops in town, so naturally the address reads “Everton 2 – Liverpool 1”.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Glasgow, Scotland – While Edinburgh prides itself on its culture, its festival and its royal heritage, Glasgow leans in to its rougher, more down-to-earth image. Home to one of the world’s greatest football rivalries, it’s a city that absolutely demands you choose which team to support – and spend the rest of your life defending your decision. The contest between Celtic and Rangers, the two teams that usually decide the Scottish championship between themselves, is remarkable not only in its longevity. The enduring 230-year duel comes with implications of faith, political belief, national allegiance and an intricate web of international clubs from all over the world associated with the one team or the other. To experience a fixture between the teams collectively known as the Old Firm is an intense, yet exhilarating treat for any football fan.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Dublin, Ireland – Considering its size, Ireland competes in an astounding range of sports internationally, in some cases with great success. The Irish rugby team plays in a league with the world’s best, participating in all major tournaments and contributing to the hugely popular Lions Tour. Irish golfers, some professional footballers and – as the world learned during the 2016 Olympics – rowers are at the top of their game. On top of all that, the country also sustains two national sports leagues that are unique to the Emerald Isle: Gaelic Football and Hurling, collectively governed by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), draw huge crowds of enthusiastic followers, particularly to inter-county matches played in the capital.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands – You may be more likely to think of art, cheese and beer than sports when planning a trip to the Netherlands, but the Low Countries are an athletic place, sending highly competitive teams to international football, hockey and volleyball competitions, as well as producing successful cyclists and race drivers. The true national sport, however, is ice skating. The nation dominates competitions, and once a year in winter, the country collectively crosses its fingers while waiting for the canals to freeze enough for the Eleven Cities ice skating marathon to take place.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Paris, France – Although the French capital’s annual sporting calendar is packed full of highlights, there is no detracting from the main event each year: the Tour de France and its spectacular final stage, arriving in the capital to popular acclaim. Regardless of the Grand Départ, which varies from year to year, the winners always get the triumphant ride down the Champs-Élysées as the crowning glory of their tough slog around the country, up and down its mountain passes and across some of its borders for diplomatic purposes.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Innsbruck, Austria – For most mere mortals, ski jumping is likely to always remain a spectator sport. Simply standing atop the Bergisel ski jump in Innsbruck, gazing down the steep slope towards the city, is vertigo-inducing enough. To imagine that professional jumpers hurl themselves down that slope and fly up to 250-odd metres through the air is exhilarating, yet definitely not to be attempted by amateurs. The original slope is part of the “Four Hills” series each winter since 1952, was updated for the Winter Olympics in 1964, and received another Zaha Hadid-designed upgrade in 2003.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Lausanne, Switzerland – The Alpine republic is home to many sports-governing bodies for reasons that are probably not solely down to their tax-exempt status, but not entirely unrelated either. On the shores of Lake Geneva, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meets each year to select the host cities of the Olympic Games, amongst other things. Visit the Olympic Museum to learn more about the history of the modern games, with all their highs and lows.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Milan, Italy – Like any Italian city worth its salt, Milan has of course got a football club. In fact, it has two famous teams that are by turn nationally and internationally successful or embroiled in corruption, bankruptcy and other scandals. What sets the Northern Italian city apart is the Autodromo: the world-famous Formula 1 circuit of Monza, where the Italian Grand Prix is held each year in September. Not only is it one of the most revered racetracks in the world, but as the home circuit of Ferrari, the place to watch its passionate “Tifosi” go wild. [Photo: CaterhamF1/Flickr]

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Barcelona, Spain – A city with a rich history in international sports, Barcelona is also worth visiting for its unique traditional competitions. On the global level, Spain’s second city was once slated to become the first to host a “People’s Olympiad”, in opposition to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. It later hosted the 1992 Olympics, as well as many other international tournaments and competitions. FC Barcelona, one of the most successful football clubs in the world, boasts the largest football stadium in Europe, with an atmosphere to send shivers up any football fanatic’s spine. However, for a truly unique athletic experience, attend one of the regular “Castells” competitions held in the Catalonian capital’s squares throughout summer, where teams build human towers up to ten people tall. [Photo: Castellers Vilafranca/Flickr]

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Istanbul, Turkey – If all you know about wrestling comes from the highly unsubtle displays of showmanship of ‘90s WWF matches, Turkish oil wrestling might come as a bit of a culture shock. Closer to the traditional ancient Greek sport of wrestling, it sees grown men wearing leather pants and copious amounts of olive oil battle it out in an endurance test accompanied by music and traditional celebrations. The country’s biggest tournament, held each summer in Edirne near the Greek and Bulgarian borders, is said to be the oldest continuously held sports competition in the world, but you can also find matches in the capital.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Dubai, United Arab Emirates – The UAE and other Arab countries have (some say literally) bought into international sports in a big way. Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit hosts the annual twilight Formula One Grand Prix, the Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium holds international test matches, and Qatar is set to welcome the next FIFA World Cup. However, the Emirates also value their traditions. Camel racing is a big draw for locals and visitors alike. The Al Marmoom Racetrack in Dubai is the best place for first-time spectators to get a feel for the exciting sport.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Melbourne, Australia – Australians in general are a pretty sports-mad bunch, but Melbourne is widely agreed to be the country’s sporting capital. Not only does it offer world-class competitions, but the locals never fail to get into the spirit and always welcome the opportunity to turn any event into a giant party. As a former Olympic and Commonwealth Games host city, Melbourne has welcomed the entire athletic world Down Under. It regularly boasts the Formula One season opener, the Australian Open tennis tournament and the Melbourne Cup races, as well as rugby internationals. On a more local level, the city is home to nine of the country’s 18 Australian Rules football teams, and hosts the annual Aussie Rules Grand Final.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Auckland, New Zealand – Skiing and surfing in the same day sounds cool, but it often means good surf and passable snow on small mountains, or great skiing within driving distance of an ocean where surfing is theoretically possible, but not necessarily exciting. One of the few countries in the world that really keeps the promise of surfing and skiing in one day, New Zealand offers plenty of spots where world-class mountain resorts with lots of snow are in easy reach of fantastic surf breaks. Auckland, the gateway for most visitors to the country, is also a great place to catch a rugby match and watch the All Blacks perform their goosebump-inducing “Haka”.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Kolkata, India – The beauty of cricket is that it’s a colonial sport where the former colonies routinely beat their colonisers at their own game. Cricket is a national sport in countries like Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and India, where thousands turn out for international test matches. The appropriately named Eden Gardens grounds has a rich – albeit at times tragic – history and scenic setting. If you’re visiting India, don’t miss out on a chance to catch a match, and enjoy the food, music and raucous atmosphere seemingly at odds with the genteel sport.

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Tokyo, Japan – Japanese sports fans are well-known for being unabashedly enthusiastic, and infusing all professional athletic proceedings with an adorable dose of “kawaii”. Cute mascots, logos and anthropomorphised sports equipment are all part of the experience. Tokyo is a big Olympic city, having already hosted three Games and looking forward to the fourth in 2020. With five professional baseball clubs in the Tokyo area, there’s always a match to be seen somewhere during the season. Why not use the club’s mascots to decide which team you want to support? For something more traditional, visit the Ryogoku district where the sumo stadium, stables and museum are located. [Photo: T toes/Flickr]

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Destination Sport: The 25 Top Sporting Destinations.

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Cape Town, South Africa – Thanks to its spectacular location, straddling two oceans and with a mountain arising from the heart of the city, Cape Town is an absolute dream destination for an active holiday. Visitors can surf, sail, dive or paddle the Atlantic or Indian Ocean, climb, hike or abseil Table Mountain, road cycle or mountain bike to Cape Point. It’s also a fantastic spectator sports city, which has hosted both football and rugby World Cup matches, as well as international cricket tests and regular matches between local teams.

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